Game apparatus.



T. A. UPTON.

GAME APPARATUS."

APPLIOATION H LBD 00T.18. 1912.

1,055,983. I Patented Mar. 11,1913.

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wm/ ywfw Z THOMAS A. UPTON, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

Application filed October 18, 1912. Serial No. 726,480.

To all whom, t mayooncern: A

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. UPTON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Game Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to amusement apparatus, and has for its object the provision of a simple game, which is highly amusing to young and old and requires considerable skill in the playing of the same to obtain the desired result.

The invention is fully described in the following specication, and while, in its broader aspect it is capable of embodiment in numerous forms, a preferred embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus embodying the invention `with a portion broken away, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with a part broken away and with the pendulum or striking medium shown in dotted lines in different positions.

Referring to the drawings, l designates a stand of any suitable construction from opposite sides of which rise the uprights or standards 2, 2, which are connected at their upper ends by a frame or housing member` 3 of inverted U-shape in cross-section. This frame may be of any other shape, however, or entirely eliminated if desired without departing from the spirit of my invention.

A bar 4 is mounted within the frame 8 longitudinally thereof, preferably in spaced relation to its sides, and has its ends mounted in bearing members 5 for longitudinal adjustment therein, said bearing members being attached to the inner sides of the respective uprights 2, 2. Set-screws 6 are threaded through the upper end portions of the uprights 2, 2 in axial register with the bar 4 and are adapted to abut at their ends against the respective ends of said bar to cooperate to hold it in any desired position of longitudinal adjustment relative to the uprights, the bar ends sliding freely in the bearings 5 when being adjusted. It is thus evident that to longitudinally adjust the bar 4 in one direction or the other, it is only necessary to loosen the set-screw 6 in the d1rection of adjustment of the bar and to turn the other `set-screw in a distance correponding to the length of adjustment of the aar.

A ball 7 is suspended by a cord, chain or other suitable member 8 from the bar 4, as from an eye 9 attachedthereto, preferably adjacent to its center, and is enabled to swing relative to the table in the manner of a pendulum.

Mounted on the table l between the standards 2, 2 in position tobe struck by the ball 7, is, in the present instance, a bell 10, or other suitable objective member which is preferably exposed to the ball at one side only thereof so that the ball is permitted to strike the same in only one direction of its swinging movement. The bell is suspended, 1in the present instance, from a three-legged frame 1l, which rises from the table l and has a guard band'12 extending around the rear and opposite sides thereof to serve as a guard or protector for the bell.

In playing with t-he apparatus, the ball 7 1s drawn to the rear, as indicated by the dotted line position a in Fig. 2, and is then released to permit it to swing forward past the bell without striking the guard 11, 12 and upon its return movement to strikethe bell or other member which may be positioned within the guard to be struck thereby. Considerable skill is required to release the ball at the proper position to the rear of the bell so that it will swing forward and then upon its return movement strike the bell, as the tendency of the ball unless released at a proper position relative to the bell at the rear thereof, is to miss striking the bell upon its return swinging movement. The purpose of t-he adjustable feature of the bar 4, or the point 9 from which the ball is suspended, is to render the striking of the bell more or less diiiicult, as it is found that the closer the point 8 is to the vertical center line of the bell the harder will it be to manipulate the ball so that it will strike the bell upon its return swinging movement. It is found in practice that it is practically impossible to strike the bell with the ball upon its return swinging movement if the point from which the ball is suspended is directly over the center of the bell, unless, of course, the portion of the bell with which the ball has Contact is of suficient breadth to fall within the range of the return movement of the ball.

The frame 3 is shownas being provided at its lower edge with hooks 13 over which the cord or ball suspending member S may be hung when not in use, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. I.

I wish it understood that my invention is not limited to any specific construction or arrangement of the parts except in so far as such limitations are specified in the claims.

Having thus described my' invention, what I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

l. In an apparatus of the class described, a table, an objective member mounted on the table, a bar mounted for horizontal adjustment above said member, and a part swingingly suspended from said bar and capable, when swung, of striking said member.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a memberl to be struck, a striking medium swingingly suspended from a point above the plane oit' said member and capable of swinging past the member in one direction free from contact therewith and `striking the memberAupon its return movement, said point of suspension being adjustable relative to said member.

3,'In an apparatus of the class described,

'an objective member, a bar mounted above said member for longitudinal adjustment in a horizontal plane, means operable to effect an adjustment of said bar, and a part swingingly suspended from the bar and capable, when swung, of striking said member.

4C. In an apparatus of the class described, a table having uprights rising from opposite sides, thereof, an objective member mounted on the table intermediate said upright-s, a. bar adjustably carried by said uprights above said member, and a part swingingly suspended from said bar and capable, when swung, of striking said meinber.

5. In an apparatus ci' the class described, a table, a bell carried by the table, means supporting the bell above the table. and protecting the same from being struck except at one side thereof, a bar adjustably mounted above the plane of the bell, and a striking part swingingly suspended from said bar and capable of being swung in one direction past the bell and the supporting means therefor free from contact therewith and of striking the exposed surface of the bell upon its return movement.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS A. UPTON. Witnesses C. W. OWEN, E. E. THOMAS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

